Crash and Burn
by Leiria
Summary: The back story to my fic Two Beds and a Coffee Machine. Rated M for some lemony goodness and abuse. Songfic AU


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to it. The song is by Savage Garden and I'm not taking any credit for it. No money is being made. No copyright infringement is intended. **

**AN: This is the back story for my fic Two Beds And A Coffee Machine. It starts towards the end of the Trio's 7th year at Hogwarts and goes forward from there. I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to Review!  
**

Crash and Burn

Hermione sighed heavily as she watched Harry and Ron playing a game of Wizard's Chess. She chuckled to herself when Harry's knight took down Ron's king, thus winning for the first time against Ron, who sat in stunned silence as his king looked up at him and shook his head.

"Good job," Hermione said as Harry walked over to her. Their lips met in a kiss as Harry sat down beside her. "I don't think I've seen him that shocked since he won his first Quidditch match," she continued.

"I doubt he thought I'd ever beat him," Harry said softly, looking back at his best friend. He turned back to Hermione. "What do you say we leave him to his shock and take ourselves elsewhere?" he asked.

Hermione's eyebrows went up skeptically. "And go where?" she asked.

"I don't know," Harry said, leaning back in his chair. "The lake?"

Hermione smiled. "Okay," she said softly before giving Harry a kiss. "Let me just run my books to my room and I'll be right back," she said before packing up her school books and going to her room. When she returned, it was to find Harry with his hands in his pockets. She gave him a curious glance before he reached for her hand. They left the castle together and walked over towards the lake.

Hermione sighed as they sat down and rest her head on Harry's shoulder. "What?" Harry asked.

"I'm thinking about telling my parents," Hermione confessed. "The last time I was home, they asked me to stay with them for a little while before moving out on my own, seeing as they haven't seen very much of me over the last seven years. Maybe if I tell them what's going on, they'll understand that I can't afford to do that."

"How long is a little while?" Harry asked.

Hermione sighed again. "A whole year," she confessed. "They want me to take a break from the magical world so that I can make sure it's the life I want to live, so they say. Personally, I don't see how I couldn't live in this world. I don't see how I could live without you there."

"Hey, if being with you meant that I had to give up this world, I'd do it in a heartbeat," Harry said softly, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend. "Though I really don't see that as a possibility, all things considered."

Hermione nodded and sighed again. "That's why I think I should tell them," she said softly, looking down at her hand as it rest on Harry's thigh.

She watched as Harry reached into his pocket again. "What do you have in there?" she asked, realizing that he had been doing that off and on over the last few weeks. Harry looked at her and smiled. "Nothing," he said in a way that convinced her that he was hiding something from her. "What do you say we abandon the grounds for more favorable activities?" he asked.

"And do what?" Hermione asked.

Harry smirked. "Well, if there's the chance that your parents may whisk you away for a year, we should do all that we can to show each other just how we feel about each other," he said with a grin. "What do you think?"

Hermione chuckled and kissed Harry. "I think you have a wonderful idea," she said softly, before they kissed again.

_When you feel all alone_

_And the world has turned its back on you_

_Give me a moment please_

_To tame your wild wild heart_

_I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you_

_It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold_

_When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take anymore_

Hermione sighed as she sat her parents down the night she returned home from school.

"Mom, Dad," she began uneasily. "I can't stay here. I have to go back. Something very important is happening to the magical world and I'm very much involved in it. So is Harry. I have to be there for him."

"What's going on?" her mother asked. "What's so important that you can't spend time with your parents?"

Hermione sighed heavily again. "There's a war," Hermione sighed, praying that they wouldn't take the news horribly. "There's a war and Harry's the only one who can end it peacefully. He needs me and I can't abandon him. He's asked me to marry him and I said yes," she said softly. "I'm leaving next week."

"No," her father said.

Hermione looked up in shock. "What?" she asked.

"Hermione, you're only eighteen. How can you possibly know what you're going to do the rest of your life and whom you're going to be happy with? Your mother and I waited until we were twenty-five before we got married and it was the best decision we ever made."

"Besides, if this Harry of yours is the only one who can end this war, that puts you right in the middle of it and I will not lose my daughter to a war when I can put my foot down and say no. If you want to go back to that world, you'll marry someone who isn't as involved in something so dangerous. Otherwise, we'll snap your wand."

Hermione stared at her parents in shock. "How could you do this to me?" she whispered. "How could you be so cruel?"

"We're your parents and we're looking out for you," her father said simply. "Now, how about that red-headed fellow that we've seen you with?" he asked. "He seems like a nice boy."

"Yes," her mother agreed. "He seems so much nicer than the boy with the scar, that's Harry, isn't it?" she asked. Hermione was too numb with shock to think of a lie. "I've seen him get into fights with one of the other boys at your school. I don't know how you could even think of marrying that."

Hermione felt the beginnings of tears burn at her eyes. She had never known her parents to be so stubborn in their ways. "I can't believe you're doing this…" Hermione whispered, knowing that she couldn't use magic to change their minds, not without landing herself in Azkaban. "Why can't you take my feelings into account?" she demanded in a whisper.

"Hermione, we're looking out for your safety," her father said simply, as if it explained everything. "We're your parents. That's our job."

Hermione shook her head and felt her tears fall. "I'll leave," she threatened. "I won't come back. You can't stop me."

"Hermione, your mother's cancer has come out of remission," her father said. "If you want to be able to say good bye to her when the time comes, you'll respect us enough to agree to our wishes."

Hermione felt numb. Weakly, she nodded. "I have to go to Harry and explain things," she said softly. "I'll be back in a few hours."

"Make sure you come back," her mother said. "Tomorrow we're going to Greece."

Hermione sighed and nodded. "I'll be back," she promised, wishing that she could just leave and not feel guilty about it.

_Let me be the one you call_

_If you jump I'll break your fall_

_Lift you up and fly away with you into the night_

_If you need to fall apart_

_I can mend a broken heart_

_If you need to crash then crash and burn_

_You're not alone_

She Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, knowing Harry was staying there until he could find a place to live that wasn't Grimmauld Place. She walked up to Tom, the innkeeper, and asked him for Harry's room under the alias Harry had told her he would be using. Tom gave her the room number and Hermione slowly walked up the stairs. She looked at the ring on her finger as she neared the door and balled her hand in a fist, feeling the ache in her chest for what she was about to do. Break his heart.

She reached up and knocked on the door. "Who is it?" she heard Harry call from the other side.

"Hermione," she called.

A moment later the door opened and Harry's smile faltered. He opened the door fully and let her walk in. Hermione sighed and tried to control herself as she slowly took the diamond ring off of her hand and held the ring out to Harry.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, refusing to take the ring until he had an explanation.

"My parents won't..." Hermione felt tears burn her eyes. "They say that if I'm going to continue to be a part of their lives and help with the war, I can't marry you," she whispered, her throat tight with the tears. "They say I have to marry Ron, like it's not about what I want or how I feel."

"And you're letting them do this to you?" Harry demanded.

Hermione sighed. "My mom had cancer a few years ago," she said softly. "The doctors got it to go into remission, but they just told me it's back. If I'm going to be able to say goodbye to my mother when the time comes, I have to do this. Harry, I want to just throw it all away and marry you, I love you _so_ much! But I can't..." she whispered, the tears bursting out of her with a sob that shook her entire body. Harry wrapped his arms around her and held her as she cried. "I don't know what to do!" Hermione cried.

Harry sighed and took the ring out of Hermione's hand without letting her go and put it on the table next to them. "It's okay," he said with a rough voice. He clenched his eyes shut and tried not to feel like his heart was being carved from his chest. "Ron's a good guy," he said. "He'll take care of you. He won't let anyone hurt you. He loves you..."

Hermione choked out another sob and tightly held Harry to her, breathing in the smell of him. She pressed her ear to his chest and heard the frantic beating. She almost expected to hear the sound of breaking glass.

"Stay with me tonight?" Harry whispered, burying his face in her hair. "Please?" he asked. "Just one more before I can't hold you again?"

Hermione nodded. "Of course," she said through her tears. "Maybe when this is over..."

Harry shook his head. "You know as well as I do that if you really go through with this there isn't a 'when this is over'. It's nice to think about it, but you're not the kind of person who's going to get a divorce just because the war's over."

"I wish I was," Hermione whispered.

Harry pulled away and gently turned Hermione's face towards him. "No matter what happens," he said, "I love you. I always will. Promise me that you'll never forget that."

Hermione nodded. "I promise," she whispered before she buried her face in Harry's chest again. "God, Harry, it hurts so much!" she cried.

Harry pulled away again and brushed away Hermione's tears before he slowly leaned in and kissed her. Hermione rose to her toes to deepen the kiss. If this was the last time she and Harry would be together, she would make sure she wasn't going to forget it.

She slowly pulled pulled Harry's shirt up over his head. She saw all of the scars, not for the first time, and slowly ran her hand along his chest. He shivered under her touch and let out a shaky sigh. They walked to the bed and Harry put his glasses on the nightstand to prevent them from getting in the way or lost.

Hermione touched every part of his face and torso, memorizing the way he felt under her hands. She kissed every part of him she could find that wasn't still hidden by clothing and Harry relished the feeling, knowing it was the last.

Harry kissed Hermione and gently pushed her back. He slid his hand under the shirt she still war and ran his fingers lightly across her stomach, knowing she was ticklish there and smiling at the sound of her laughter and the way it made her squirm. She moved to unbutton her shirt while he leaned in and kissed her. He didn't break the kiss until she shrugged out of the shirt.

She was sitting with him lying on his side. They stared at each other for a moment as Harry ran his hand along her thigh, waist, and arm. He pulled her back down for a kiss and his hand automatically went to her back to fight with the clasp of her bra. In the months they'd been sleeping together, he'd become the pro at unhooking the garment with one hand.

Without missing a beat, Harry tossed the bra away and stopped kissing Hermione's mouth to take one of her nipples into his mouth. She arched her back as she cried out, things low in her body tightening almost painfully in anticipation.

Harry's hand traveled to the hem of her skirt before sliding up. She parted her legs to give him better access and he pushed her underwear aside, fingers sliding in as he kissed her mouth once more, swallowing her moan.

She cried out as he found _that spot_ and kept getting louder as he hit it again and again until her entire body shook with the orgasm. He kissed her neck as she went limp on his arm and he pulled his hand away from her legs.

Hermione smiled when Harry pulled away a little. She pushed him onto his back and undid the button of his pants before carefully unzipping them. Harry gasped, a sound Hermione always enjoyed to hear in the bedroom, and returned the favor he'd paid her.

After a minute, Harry couldn't take the separation anymore. While he fully enjoyed the sensation of what Hermione was doing with her hand, it wasn't enough. He started pushing his pants off and Hermione abandoned what she was doing to take off her skirt and underwear. She lay back on the bed and Harry crawled up over her, fully exposed. Hermione felt those things low in her body tighten again at the sight of him.

She smiled at Harry and watched as he pushed into her, having always enjoyed the sight of it when she was in a position to see the view. She cried out as Harry sheathed as much of himself inside of her as possible. They began to move against each other, hips thrusting, speeding up and slowing, moaning, gasping, crying out in the ecstasy of it all.

Sweaty and panting, Harry kissed her as he thrust one last time, climaxing inside of her. Hermione realized they hadn't done anything to stop her from getting pregnant and almost hoped that there would be a baby. _Almost._ She knew even that wouldn't change anything for them.

As Harry stared down at her, she saw the tear fall from his eye and reached up to brush it away before kissing him again.

_When you feel all alone_

_And a loyal friend is hard to find_

_You're caught in a one-way street_

_With the monsters in your head_

_When hopes and dreams are far away_

_And you feel like you can't face the day_

Two months later, Hermione stood in a white gown in front of the altar. Facing her was not the man she wanted to marry. The ring he was about to put on her finger was not the one she wanted.

"Do you, Hermione Jane Granger, take Ronald Bilius Weasley to be your lawfully wedded husband, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?" the bishop asked.

Hermione sighed. _No,_ she thought. "I do," she said softly, feeling as though her heart was breaking with the words. She looked over Ron's shoulder as he slipped the ring on her finger and saw Harry standing there with a look of agony on his face. He wiped a tear away and nodded at something Fred quietly asked him. Hermione thought it was cruel of Ron to ask Harry to be his best man, knowing the truth.

"You may kiss the bride," the bishop said, bringing Hermione back to the reality of her life.

She tried to smile as Ron lifted her veil over her head. She tried to pretend she was happy and that her heart wasn't breaking as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. He pulled away far enough to move from her cheek to her lips and Hermione tried not to be disgusted. She thought of Ron as a brother, and now they were married.

As they walked down the aisle, arm in arm, Hermione caught her parents' gazes and glared at them. They smiled, happy to see their daughter married to the 'safe' one. Hermione decided that she was _never_ going to let her parents do something like this to her again.

They spent their honeymoon in Hawaii because Ron didn't want her to be distracted by something she could learn. The fist night of their marriage, she didn't want to have anything to do with him. She turned in early, feigning exhaustion, and cried herself to sleep, wondering if Harry was doing the same. The second night, she couldn't think of an excuse to give Ron as to why they shouldn't have sex. She tried to be an attentive partner for him, but she kept thinking of Harry and how this felt like a complete betrayal of everything they had experienced over the last two years.

The third night, they were called back to England. There had been a huge battle in their absence and Bill and George were seriously injured. When they arrived, Hermione was stunned to find that Harry had also been injured in the fight. She ran to him and held him tightly, thankful that he was alright. As she pulled away from him, she fought the urge to kiss him. She saw the look of absolute rage on Ron's face and wondered if how her parents could have thought he was the safe one.

Another two months passed and the war was suddenly over. The battle had been bloody and too many people had died. Remus, Tonks, Seamus, Neville, Charley, Arthur...Dumbledore.... Though they celebrated the end of the war and Harry's victory, they mourned those who had passed.

During the party, held a week after the funerals, Hermione watched as Harry wondered away from everyone. She glanced up at Ron, who sighed and nodded, before she followed Harry's tracks.

She found him sitting in a car she didn't remember ever seeing before. She walked up to the driver's side window and knocked on the glass. Harry looked up at her before he opened the door. "Hi," he said in a subdued voice.

"Is this yours?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I took the driving test a few weeks ago. I figured it'd be a good idea to have it. Climb on in," he said with a nod towards the other door. Hermione closed the driver's side door and walked around the front of the car to climb in through the passenger's door.

"How are you?" she asked. It felt odd to be alone with him again. It had been so long, yet her body remembered his touch like it was only yesterday and his voice still made her stomach tie itself up in knots. They hadn't seen much of each other, despite being side by side most every day for the past two months. They had hardly spoken to each other.

"Shocked that it's over," Harry confessed after a moment of silence. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Grateful that I don't have to watch my back constantly and yet I'm still doing it out of habit."

"It's only been ten days," Hermione said softly. "No one expects you to adjust to the change immediately."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah they do," he said.

A passing car lit up the interior of the car and Hermione was surprised to see something sparkle from the rear-view mirror. She reached out and found the ring Harry had given her on a string. "You still have this?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "It reminded me why I was fighting."

"And now?" Hermione asked, knowing that it didn't serve that purpose anymore.

"It reminds me of the cost of war."

Hermione sighed and let the ring go. It swung back and forth like a pendulum. "So how about we go for a drive?" she asked.

"Won't Ron expect you back inside?" Harry asked with a note of bitterness in his voice.

"I don't really care about what Ron's expecting from me right now," Hermione said. "He doesn't own me. He's not even going to come looking for me."

"Does he know you're with me?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah," she said.

"Then won't he come looking if you're gone too long?"

"I'll have that fight with him when it comes up," Hermione replied. "It seems to be all we do anyway."

"You two fight a lot?" Harry asked, meeting Hermione's eyes for the first time since she got in the car.

Hermione nodded. "Daily," she said softly, looking at the wedding ring on her finger. "He hates how I've constantly got paperwork out and that I'm always researching something and how I'm always too tired to sleep with him." She let out a bitter chuckle. "He knows he doesn't measure up to you and it's pissing him off but I can't...I can't let you go."

Harry reached for Hermione's hand across the seat. "I can't either," he said softly.

"Let's go for a drive," Hermione said again.

Harry nodded and started the car. "Where to?" he asked.

"Anywhere but here," Hermione said softly.

They drove for a half hour, trying to find someplace to park and be without the worry of someone looking for them. Harry finally found a pullout by a field and parked the car. He turned off the headlights and they were suddenly illuminated only by the light of the clock in the dashboard.

Unable to keep himself from it, Harry reached for Hermione and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her because he couldn't stand to be so close with her and no one else around without kissing her another minute. She gave in to the kiss, knowing that she shouldn't because she was married to their best friend. She felt like she was alive for the first time since they were last together in the Leaky Cauldron with his hands on her. He pushed the skirt of her dress up and ran his hand over her stomach, the way he had so many times in the past. Hermione smiled as she squirmed.

Harry broke the kiss and met her eyes in the darkness. "I need you," he whispered.

Hermione nodded. "I need you too," she whispered before she kissed him again. They moved to the back seat and made love in the car. Hermione prayed that no one would know. She prayed that no one would figure it out.

When they finished and cleaned themselves up, Harry drove back to the party. Most of the cars had left, not that there were many to start off with. Hermione leaned across the seat and kissed Harry one more time before she got out of the car. She stood on the side of the road as he drove away and watched until the taillights of his car disappeared as he turned a corner. With a heavy heart and a sigh, she turned and walked back inside of the house her parents had bought for her and Ron.

_Let me be the one you call_

_If you jump I'll break your fall_

_Lift you up and fly away with you into the night_

_If you need to fall apart_

_I can mend a broken heart_

_If you need to crash then crash and burn_

_You're not alone_

The affair went on for two years. Every time Hermione found the excuse to be alone with Harry, she took it and they would experience the passion as though it was the last time it would happen. Hermione learned to be passionate with Ron and made sure she was careful not to cry out Harry's name when she was with her husband.

Then, suddenly in September, she started to get sick. The mere smell of food sent her running for the bathroom where she would empty the contents of her stomach into the toilet. After two days of this, Ron finally looked at her and asked her the question that made Hermione numb. "Are you pregnant?"

Hermione rushed to the drug store and bought a Muggle pregnancy test, not knowing yet what the spell was and desperate to know. The test came back positive. Hermione then looked up the spell, knowing that the test could be wrong. She performed the spell and blue sparks shot out from the tip of her wand. A boy.

Ron and the rest of the Weasleys were elated. Another baby in the nest.

Hermione went to Harry as soon as she could and tried to tell him. The words wouldn't come out and they soon found themselves making love in his living room.

The door opened unexpectedly. Both Harry and Hermione froze and turned to the door. Ron. Hermione felt numb with fear.

Harry suddenly jumped up from the sofa and grabbed a throw blanket to cover Hermione with. He didn't care if he was bared to the world, so long as she wasn't. It touched Hermione, or would have had she not been so afraid in that moment.

Ron walked up to Harry and threw a punch that sent Harry to his knees. "She's my fucking _wife,_ you bastard!" he yelled before he grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her up from the couch. "Cover yourself," he spat at her. Hermione wrapped the blanket around her as Harry got back to his feet. He grabbed his pants from the floor and pulled them on as he stared Ron down.

"You know better than anyone else that you don't measure up," he said. Hermione covered her face with the blanket and wished Harry hadn't just said that.

Ron hit Harry again. "You're never going to see her again," he spat angrily before grabbing Hermione's arm and dragging her out of Harry's house. As the door slammed shut, Harry dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands. He knew he really had lost her this time.

_Because there has always been heartache and pain_

_And when it's over you'll breathe again_

_You'll breathe again_

It was May when the baby came. Ron hadn't told the family about catching Hermione cheating on him with Harry, but when the baby was born, he couldn't deny it any longer. There was no mistaking the father of the child. No Weasley was ever born with jet black hair and emerald green eyes.

Hermione cried the first time she held her son. She called him Sirius, after Harry's godfather, and because he was the brightest star in her night sky of a life. She gave him the last name Potter because he was Harry's and there was no use trying to deny it.

The baby resulted in so many losses for Hermione. She lost her parents, who refused to speak with her now that they knew she hadn't kept true to her promise, she lost Ron's trust in a way she knew she'd never be able to get back, she lost Molly, Percy, and Bill who simply couldn't understand, and she lost the support system of the Weasley Wives, as they often called themselves. The only people who stood by her were Fred, George, and Ginny because they knew the truth and didn't care. Fred and George owed Harry too much to turn their backs on Hermione and leave her alone. Ginny, an unwed mother of twins, sympathized with Hermione because most of the Weasleys weren't talking to her any more either. She made them promise not to tell Harry.

Ron hit her for the first time when he came home early from work and found her on the phone with Harry. She quickly hung up when she heard him open the door, but it was too late. He struck her, knocking her to the floor.

Instantly he apologized and helped her up from the floor. Hermione jerked her arm out of his grasp and stared at him in shock. "I'm sorry," Ron said, a look of shock and disbelief on his own face. "I didn't.... I can't believe I did that," he said. "It'll never happen again."

"It had better not," Hermione said, holding her face where he had hit her. It was then that Sirius began to cry. Hermione watched Ron's face as a look of hatred crossed his face. He hated Sirius and everything he represented. Hermione shook her head and went to her son. He was her favorite person in the world, next to his father anyway.

When she tried to call Harry that night, she found the phone was dead.

_When you feel all alone_

_And the world has turned its back on you_

_Give me a moment please_

_To tame your wild wild heart_

Months passed before Ron hit her again. It was the end of summer and Sirius was colicy. He had been up most of the previous night and day and Hermione hadn't had any time to clean up after him or do any of the things she normally did during while Ron was at work.

The door slammed with Ron's arrival, waking Sirius and making him cry. Hermione sighed in frustration and glared at Ron as she went to the baby's room to try and put him back to sleep.

She could hear Ron as he threw something in the kitchen and swore. His footsteps thundered down the hall and soon enough he was standing at the door of the nursery. "Where the fuck is dinner?" he demanded. "I don't work two fucking jobs to keep you and that bastard alive so that I can come home and find that you haven't done shit around the house!"

"Keep your voice down, Ron," Hermione hissed, gently bouncing Sirius in her arms in an attempt to quiet his screaming. "He's been sick all day, I haven't had time to do anything."

"I want dinner ready in ten minutes," Ron said angrily. "I'm taking a shower. If it's not done by the time I get out, you're going to pay."

"I'll get it when when Sirius goes back to sleep," Hermione replied coolly, turning her back on Ron and reaching for the bottle in Sirius' crib.

Ron hit his fist against the door jam and walked away. Minutes later, Hermione heard the shower run.

Sirius finally calmed down just before the end of Ron's shower. Hermione laid him back in his crib and went to the kitchen to start dinner.

Ron came out into the kitchen and saw Hermione still standing at the stove. "Is it done yet?" he asked.

Hermione shook her head. "I just got started on it," she said.

"I fucking told you to have it ready by the time I got out of the shower!" Ron shouted, causing Hermione to flinch.

She stared at him in shock. "I told you that I would get to it when Sirius calmed down," she replied.

Ron walked up to her and pushed her away from the stove. Hermione's back hit the counter and she winced, suddenly wishing she had her wand on her. He raised his hand and backhanded her across the face. Hermione stumbled and caught herself on the counter before she fell. Again Ron hit her and Hermione tried to shield herself from the blow. She dropped to the floor, landing on her butt, and held her arms up over her head. "Stop it, Ron!" she cried.

Ron froze. Again, he apologized and promised it would never happen again. He helped her up as Sirius started crying again, woken by the sound of his mother's terrified voice. "Shut him up!" Ron shouted before he turned to the stove and finished his own dinner. Hermione ran from the kitchen, wishing she could call Harry.

_Let me be the one you call_

_If you jump I'll break your fall_

_Lift you up and fly away with you into the night_

_If you need to fall apart_

_I can mend a broken heart_

_If you need to crash then crash and burn_

_You're not alone_

She sent owl after owl to Harry, wishing that one of them would get her letters through. Each owl came back, the message undelivered. She began to suspect Harry was ignoring her until the owl came back when Ron was home.

"It worked!" he happily said, pulling Hermione's letter from the bird's beak. Hermione stared at Ron as he opened it and read her private message, his face growing redder and redder with each line.

Hermione knew he was going to hit her again. She braced herself, cursing herself again for leaving her wand in the other room. Hadn't all the years of war told her that she couldn't be unprotected at any time? Hadn't she learned anything from fighting Death Eaters?

He threw the letter at her and screamed at her. He hit her repeatedly and this time, he didn't stop himself. This time, he didn't promise her that it would never happen again. This time, he didn't stop to help her up. He screamed louder as the baby's cries grew louder. He hit her harder with every blow. He kicked her twice in the side. Then he left the house.

Hermione slowly got to her feet and took care of her frantic child. Calming Sirius, knowing he was terrified, brought the situation into a harsh new light. She had to leave. She had to go to Harry. There was no way she was going to be able to survive

She packed the bags that night. As she started to take them out to the car, the door opened and Ron appeared. He was drunk and still angry. He dragged her back to their bedroom and forced himself on her. The louder she screamed and harder she cried, the more excited he seemed to get. When he finished with her, he went to the shower. Hermione, hearing Sirius screaming once again, found that she couldn't walk because of the pain she was in. Defeated, she cried. Eventually Sirius fell back asleep. As Ron came back into the bedroom, he smirked. "I win," he said before he climbed into bed next to her.

_Let me be the one you call_

_If you jump I'll break your fall_

_Lift you up and fly away with you into the night_

_If you need to fall apart_

_I can mend a broken heart_

_If you need to crash then crash and burn_

_You're not alone_

It was December when Hermione had the courage to leave again. Ron had thrown her into the glass coffee table and demanded she ignore her injuries and stop her son from crying. Hermione knew she would be lucky to survive another month. She waited until Ron fell asleep and then snuck out of the house. She drove until the sun rose and found a hotel. She sent an owl to Harry and fell asleep.

He Apparated into the hotel room shortly afterward. He rushed to her, promised to take care of her, and took her home. That night, Ron showed up, demanding to know where Hermione was. Her car was in the driveway. Harry couldn't deny the fact she was there.

For the first time in their marriage, Hermione stood up to Ron and demanded a divorce. He agreed and walked out of her life for the last time.

The next morning, Harry asked her to marry him. Hermione couldn't have said no even if she wanted to. He ran out to his car and came back holding the ring he'd given her the first time he asked her. He placed the ring on her finger for the first time in three years. Hermione suddenly felt that everything was going _right._

_Let me be the one you call_

_If you jump I'll break your fall_

_Lift you up and fly away with you into the night_

_If you need to fall apart_

_I can mend a broken heart_

_If you need to crash then crash and burn_

_You're not alone_

"Do you, Hermione Jane Granger, take Harry James Potter as your lawfully wedded husband, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

Hermione smiled as she met Harry's brilliant green eyes. "I do," she said.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the bishop said. "You may kiss the bride."

Harry slowly lifted Hermione's veil and leaned in to kiss her. She felt butterflies in her stomach and smiled as he slowly pulled away.

Her smile didn't falter once as she took Sirius from Ginny and walked down the aisle with Harry.

They spent their honeymoon in Salem Massachusetts because Hermione wanted to know more about the Salem Witch Trials. Harry didn't mind that she spent time studying. He knew that she was always going to have time in her day for him.

Sirius was a year old when Hermione discovered she was pregnant again. Harry was there for the birth of his daughter, Lily. Two years later they had James. Another year later Hermione surprised them with twins: Remus and Ginerva. Hermione smiled as she rest in the hospital after the birth of the twins. Harry finally had his big family.


End file.
